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June and July 2017

Affinity myPA: Creating Powerful Alerts and Notifications

Affinity myPA uses notifications to remind managers and decision-makers of important events and tasks, and alert them to issues. Notifications can be created to suit a wide range of business scenarios, preventing issues, lowering risk and achieving compliance. This month we create notifications that:

Alert managers to missing timesheets.

Track unapproved current-period timesheets and mileage claims.

Help managers to prioritise and focus of the things that matter.

Alert Managers to Missing Staff Timesheets

Purpose

Alerts managers when staff who normally submit timesheets fail to do so.

Benefits

Empowers HR teams by shifting the responsibility back to managers.

Managers are proactive, not reactive.

Example notifications

Schedule

You need to alert managers before the next scheduled pay run to give them enough time to chase up their staff. In this example, managers are notified on a Tuesday morning every two weeks (two days before the pay period ends).

Track Unapproved Timesheets and Mileage Claims

Purpose

Benefits

Empowers payroll teams by shifting the responsibility back to managers.

Reduces late approvals.

Reduces the need for pay adjustments and add-to pay runs.

Example notifications

Schedule

These depend on your company policies, but typically you’ll want to give managers enough time to approve outstanding timesheets and mileage claims. In this example, we email a reminder to managers on a Tuesday morning every two weeks, two days before the period ends.

Introduction

We all know that accurate, up-to-date employee and position information is essential. But maintaining it is time-consuming and frustrating. This month, we create three forms that take the pain out of information management.

Key benefits

All forms:

Simplify cross-department communications.

Reduce paperwork.

Increase efficiency.

Consolidate information in the employee masterfile.

Change to Employee Details

What it does

Sends employee-related updates direct from HR to Payroll. The form can be as simple or complex as you like.

What it shouldn’t be used for

Basic updates that employees can do themselves in ESS, like contact details and bank accounts.

Why you need it

It manages HR-to-Payroll communications when a range of employee details change.

Data source

Employee Masterfile > On Behalf of Employee. This lets the form initiator select from a list of all employees at the start of the process.

Typical workflow

HR > Payroll

Key things about this workflow:

It’s for communication purposes. Nothing is approved or declined in this workflow.

It’s initiated by staff in the ‘CF HR Initiators’ ESS group.

It’s processed by staff in the ‘CF Payroll Processors’ ESS group.

Design

In this example, HR enters the information and Payroll updates it in Affinity. Our example shows the active form, currently being completed by HR. The Payroll section becomes visible only when the appropriate workflow state is reached (in this case ‘Payroll Processing). This form also lets you attach documents and automatically store them in the employee masterfile.

Change to Employee Conditions

What it does

Provides a direct way for managers to inform HR and Payroll of changes to an employee’s conditions, such as contract extensions, salary increases and changes to worked hours.

Why you need it

This form replaces email communications. You can also design it so users can attach external documents and automatically store them in the employee masterfile.

Data source

Employee Masterfile > Managers Direct Reports. This lets managers select from a list of their direct reports at the start of the process.

Typical workflow

Manager > HR > Payroll

Key things about this workflow:

Approve/decline options are available to HR.

If declined by HR, the form will go back to the initiator’s Completed folder.

If approved by HR, the form moves to the Payroll Processing state where it can be actioned by a member of the ‘CF Payroll Processors’ ESS group.

Design

The first section is completed by managers. To make it easy, we use a combination of ‘field display’ (employee number and name) and ‘field edit’ form fields. Both pull in existing data from Affinity about the employee, but only ‘field edit’ fields can be updated. In our example, all sections are shown but you can hide each section based on the workflow. For example, only show the Payroll Processing Checklist section when the form reaches the Payroll inbox.

Change to Existing Position Details

What it does

Sends position-related updates direct from HR to Payroll.

Why you need it

It manages HR-to-Payroll communications when a range of employee details change.

Data source

Employee Masterfile > Position. This lets the form initator select from a list of positions at the start of the process.

Typical workflow

HR > Payroll (the same as the Change to Employee Details Form).

Design

We’re keeping it very simple here. No tick boxes recording when tasks were completed. One section to record/process updated information. Fields populate with Affinity which can then be edited.

Purpose

How to do it

Ensure the image is either stored on your Affinity desktop (if uploading), or fully selected in Microsoft® Paint® (if pasting).

To apply the same logo company-wide, go to Administrator > Company Setup, select the Company Logo tab then select Edit. Right-click the blank space and select either Load… or Paste. Either paste or load the image then select Save.

To apply logos to a pay point, go to Administrator > Pay Point Setup, select the Pay Point Logo tab then either paste or load the image. Save the record.

Preventing Timesheet Adds and Changes into Past Periods

Location

ESS > My Tools > Company Setup (logged in as Administrator)

Purpose

The Timesheet days before current pay period setting defines a point after which timesheets can no longer be actioned. This includes all actions:

Creating, updating, duplicating and deleting.

Saving and submitting.

Approving and declining.

Forwarding, delegating and sharing.

To staff, this acts like a ‘grace period’ in which they can action timesheets in past periods. The grace period lasts for X days back from the beginning of the current pay period, and you can define different parameters for each ESS employee group. If the grace period ends with unapproved timesheets, they will remain in an unapproved closed state forever and the employee won’t be paid.

Clever Forms Elements: Final in This Series

About Affinity Clever Forms

Affinity Clever Forms lets you create dynamic online forms complete with approval workflow. As a result, HR and payroll processes become more efficient, accurate and compliant.

About form elements

Form elements are the fields, functions and user options that you drag onto Clever Forms templates to create dynamic, meaningful forms. This month, we wrap up the current series by showcasing the remaining form elements.

Attach Multiple Files

Lets form users attach files to forms up to 20Mb in size. Gives the option to attach the file to just the form or to the form and the employee masterfile (depending on who initiates the form).

Date Picker

Adds a date/time selector to forms. Useful for forms used to request training or book equipment. Design options include the ability to provide form users with a pop-up date/time selector, and to default to today’s date.

Draw Panel

Creates a space on the form where something can be written or drawn using a mouse or finger. For example, an electronic signature or a diagram.

About the 212 Cost Centre Pay Period Report by Employee

Location

Reports > Standard Reports

Purpose

This report tells you how much payroll cost has been allocated against cost centres for that pay period and breaks costs down by individual employee. This accounting report is important because it:

Summarises all labour charges from all paid timesheets for the period.

Presents essential labour-costing data in a digestible format immediately after the pay run.

Breaks down costs by employee within each cost centre.

Pay Code of the Month

Aussies look away. This one’s for Kiwis only. When USEADP is active in an employee masterfile, Affinity will use ADP instead of RDP to calculate that employee’s leave. This applies whenever applicable leave is recorded in timesheets and type 2 and 3 pay adjustments. Want to get even smarter? You can make this happen for entire awards. Just ask the Affinity Helpdesk to set this up for you.

Tip

Leave history masterfiles give you up-to-date leave information for employees in one central place. Ensure Affinity is generating history for the right leave codes by adding them to Leave History Setup (Administrator > Leave History Setup).